Kant’s Classes at the Collegium Fridericianum

Pietas fundamentum omnium virtutum. [Piety is the foundation of all virtue]

— Motto of the Collegium Fridericianum

Kant began attending the Collegium Fridericianum with the semester beginning Easter 1732, having just turned eight. This required that he walk rather further each morning and afternoon than his neighborhood school at St. George’s. The school day included a full seven hours of instruction, beginning at 7 AM with an hour of religion (four days on the Lutheran catechism, one day on Bible stories), 8-10 AM was devoted to Latin, as was the 10-11 hour for the younger students (the older students studied Greek in this hour). An hour lunch break and another hour of supervised play was followed by three more hours of classes: 1 PM was handwriting and spelling for younger students, geography or philosophy for older students, 2 PM was arithmetic (for older students: Hebrew), and the last hour was again devoted to Latin.

Kant was among the lucky students living at home, and so each evening could escape the pervasive control of the school; not so for the several dozen boarding students who lived under the constant eye and rigid schedule of the Fridericianum.

There was no natural science, other than what little found its way into the philosophy instruction (of which there was little), nor any study of German (other than spelling; grammar would have been learned in the Latin class). Instruction in Hebrew (2 hrs/week in the 3rd level, 4 hrs/week in 1st and 2nd levels) and in Greek was aimed primarily at Bible translation (no classical Greek was studied). The philosophy instruction would have been given over primarily to logic. Likely of more relevance to Kant’s later philosophical career, however, was the study of Cicero in the context of the Latin class.

Arithmetic was a required subject, but amounted to little more than simple calculating and fractions. Several subjects could also be taken privately on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, including mathematics, and Kant was allowed to pursue this near the end of his career at the Fridericianum. The textbook used was Wolff’s Auszug, perhaps the most widely used text at the time, and the same text from which Kant would later teach at the university. Of the courses listed here, mathematics and French were privately taught; it is unclear whether Kant’s parents had to pay for this or not, as they likely received some financial help with tuition fees.

See the description of the Collegium Fridericianum. For a much fuller account of the school, see Klemme [1994], and for Kant’s experiences as a student, see especially pp. 32-60, as well as Kuehn [2001, 45-52].

The following table arranges the disciplines in columns, with semesters in rows, beginning with summer semester 1732. Students were separated by ability in each discipline, with 1 (prima) being the highest level in that discipline. All of the disciplines shown were required, except for Mathematics and French, which Kant took privately, and these took place on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.[1]

Sem.

Latin

Theo.

Arith.

Math.

Calligr.

Singing

Geogr.

History

Greek

Hebrew

French

Poetry

Antiq.

Phil.

32

5

5

3

-

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

32/3

5

5

3

-

3

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

33

5

4

3

-

3

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

33/4

4

4

-

-

2

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

34

4

4

2

-

3

2

4

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

34/5

3

3

2

-

2

2

4

-

4

-

-

3

-

-

35

3

2

2

-

2

2

4

-

4/3

3

-

3

-

-

35/6

3

2

2

-

1

-

4

-

2

3

3

3

-

-

36

2a

2

-

-

1

-

-

-

2

2

3

2

2

-

36/7

2a

2

-

-

1

-

2

-

2

2

3

-

2

-

37

2a

2

-

-

1

-

-

-

2

2

2

-

2

-

37/8

2b

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

2

2

2

-

1

-

38

2b

2

-

-

-

-

-

2

2

2

1

-

1

-

38/9

1

2

-

2

-

-

-

2

2

1

-

-

-

1

39

1

1

-

1

-

-

-

1

1

-

-

-

-

1

39/40

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

1

1

-

-

-

-

1

40

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

1

1

-

-

-

-

1

Wald offers a brief account of Kant’s teachers and school experiences in the memorial speech he gave April 23, 1804:[2]

His father, a harness maker, sent him in 1732 to the Collegium Fridericianum, at which time Dr. Franz Albert Schultz[bio] was the director,[3] and Schiffert and Strobel were inspectors. The worship service was led by the subsequent pastor Steinkopf und Dr. Rau. Kant studied here eight years. His teachers were in Latin: Heydenreich and Fuhrmann; in Greek and Hebrew: Stephan Schultz; in history and in French: Wilden; in geography: Schelz and Rogowski; in mathematics: Siehr, and in logic: Cuchlovius and Hein. Who among these is primarily responsible for waking his genius is unknown. Only this much do I know from the reports of his friends: that he valued Schultz so highly that he wished to to erect a memorial in his honor, and that he thought of Heydenreich with respect, because he would occasionally, during class, share various bits of knowledge and helpful concepts with his pupils. Among his classmates, he primarily valued Ruhnken[bio], who died as a professor at Leyden; Kypke[bio], the local professor of oriental languages who published Observations on the New Testament; and the dear local physician, Dr. Trummer, with whom he used the familiar “du” to the end. He eagerly pursued the ancient languages, learned Hebrew, but primarily competed with Ruhnken in the readings of Latin authors from the best editions available, which Ruhnken, as the more well-to-do, procured. Kant was considered a good stylist back then, and even in later years did not forget the acquaintance he made back in school with the classical authors. He recited the most beautiful passages of Latin poets, orators, and historians, even as an old man. Therefore the Pietism must not have degenerated into such a fanaticism, and the discipline in this school must not have been so horribly strict, as some ungrateful students — and there were far more who were grateful — have from time to time pretended. [Qtd. in Reicke 1860, 5-6]